Apparatus for drying and cleaning hides



July 18, 1933.

P. HERTZSCH 1,918,909

APPARATUS FOR DRYING AND CLEANING HIDES Filed Dec. 21, 1952 i s (r f 7 I 772 x ll 2 72 9 0 y [771 877 far.

Paul Herlzsafi Patented July 18, 1933 misses harem oFFicEi fi aur. ae zscap mammatnqm a LEIPZIG, ennnnny nfrnna'rus ma itime AND-cLn nine HIDES "Application filed liecem ber -21, 1932,- Serial No. 6 48,179,"a nd in Germany August 2, 1932.

lily invention relates toapparatus for. drying andcleaning hides, and more particularlyzto an apparatus inv which the hides are dried and cleaned through the medium of a gas, current, preferably hot air, and a clean+ in g-pagent having solid particles such as sawdust,- sander-thelike, which is entrained by the gas. The hides are subjected'tothe. action .of the gas and solids in .a rotary meme 15 ber or-idrum, as:described in my copending application for patent of the United States, Serial No. 382,729,filed August 1, 1929.

In the apparatus described in my said copending application mechanical means, such as perforated plates, are provided for mechanically separating the solid particles from the gas leaving therotary member. Such mechanical separation involves certain draw backs. Firstly the openings in the perforated plates must be smaller than the particles of the cleaning agent and it is obvious'that frequent clogging of such narrow openings is inevitable. .Such clogging however involvesqthe shutting down of the apparatus, .5 allowing it to cool,.opening the rotary member, cleaning the perforated plates and reheating the apparatus. Apart therefrom the velocity of the gas current, i. e. the quan tity of gas flowing through the apparatus per unit of time, is limited by the small area of the openings in the perforated plates, and further the mechanical means retain the solid particles or cleaning agents in the rotary member where the vapor which is liberated from the wet hides, gradually imbibes them with moisture and reduces their efiiciency.

It is an object of my invention to improve an apparatus of the hind described with a view to eliminating these drawbacks. To this end, instead of the mechanical means provided in the apparatus referred to for retaining the particles, I provide pneumatic means for separating the particles and for returning them'to the rotary member. The particles are separated from the gas which has left the rotary member and 'inwhich, in addition to the particles, the vapor liberated from the wet hides is'suspended. The mechanically purified mixture of gas and vapor 50 is discharged from the apparatus while the separatedsolid particles are delivered tolthe gas which flows toward the rotary member, i. re. returned to the members In this inanner,.the cleaning agent is continuously circu lated through the apparatus while the. gas

is discharged'at one end, and fresh :gas drawn in atrthe otherend. Preferably, the: separated particles are dried? before being delivered to the gas flowing towardithe rotary member. be effected rator. I

By dispensing with the perforated plates provided in the apparatus described-in my :by heating the pneumatic sepasaid copending application, the quantity. of

gas flowing through the apparatus per-.unit oftime is much increased and the drying and cleaning operationis accelerated in proportion. Clogging by the cleaning agentis an obvious impossibility. By heating the separator, the particles of the cleaning. agent are dried and heated before they are returned to the rotary member and this increases their efficiency. It is not necessary that the parti-' cles should-be dried by heating the separator, I

but separate means for drying and/ or heating the-particles may be provided if desired.

:In my novel apparatus there is a continuous circulation of the cleaning agent through the rotary member. The particles of the agent are dried while at the same time fresh gas is continuously admitted to the apparatus and the gas in which vapor is sus-v pended, is discharged. Notwithstanding the greater quantities of gas flowing through the apparatus at higher velocity, and the discharge of the mechanically purified mixture of gas, and vapor, suflicient quantities of cleaning agent will always be present in the rotary member.

In .the drawing aflixed to this-specification and formingpart thereof an apparatus embodying my invention is illustrated diagrammatically and partly in section byway of example.- 1 Referring now to the drawing, a is the rotary member or drum which, as described in my said copending application, is equipped with slabs p on the inner face of itsbarrel, and e and f are hollow trunnions or journals Drying may Pal) which are connected to the end walls of the drum (1 and mounted in bearings of the uprights it and i. t is a stufiing box on the trunnion e and t is a stufling box on the trunnion f. b is a pulley on the trunion a for rotating the drum (1. 7c is a fan to which rotation is, imparted by any-suitable means (not shown), and'whose suctionfpipe i's cdfinected to the trunnion f by the stufiing b0. t. c is the suction pipe of the lq whicl stuifing box t. g is av-l eatcrptany snitable kind, for instance, a. steam acket, which is 5 the upper horizontal reach of the suction pipe '0, through whose open end air 1 is drawn into-the fan '70; 'obviouslyyinstea'd of air, any other gas might be 'dr awn into the apparatus from a suitable i'reservoir (not shown-)- r The heater 9 is arranged'in-the imn iediate vicinity of the drum a so thatit-radi'ates a portion of its heat to the drum. Preferably, the drum and the heater are surrounded by-a suitable casingor cowl (not-shown) for hold ing the airwhich isheated by-ithe heater g, in contact with the walls of the drum. 1W1); 1 Instead of the perforated plates gt; the openings 'of'the trunnions e and f in the end walls of the drum a, asdescri'bed in my said copending application, the openings are here protected by wide-meshed gratings a which only retain thehides but do not interfere with the free flow of the air and the particles of cleaning agent suspended =therein fro one end of the drunrto'the other. i 'm' is a pneumatic separator here shown as a vertical cylinder with tapered upper and lower ends. At its upper end the separator m is connected to the delivery side of th e fan lcby a pipe Z and equipped with a; vertical discharge pipe i). j The tapered lower' end o'f the cylinder at is equipped with a: comparatively narrow outlet 0 for the separated par 45 ticles. w

r is a heating jacket which surrounds the separator m and its tapered ends and may be heated by any suitable means. In the eX ample illustrated, the jacket is connected to the heater 9 at its lower tapered portion by apipe :0. s is a discharge pipe for the heating medium at the upper tapered portion of the jacket 1". Heating medium such as steam, hot air, hot water or the like, is admitted to the heater q through a pipe 11;, conducted to the jacket 1" of the separator on through the pipe 00 and discharged from. the jacket through the pipe 3. It is understood that the heating system for the separator and the drum may be modified in various ways. g is a pipe which extends upwardly from the vertical portion of the suction pipe '0 and, with its upper flaring end, surrounds at some clearance the lower tapered vportions oi '65 the separator on and the jacket 1', and the outlet 0 of the separator; n is a. flange at the upper end of the flaring portion of the tube d, 7 is a hole or slot in the flange at the side of the tapered lower portion of the heating jacket 7', and 2 is a valve which is mounted to turn on the flange 'n and has an opening which is; a dapted to register with the openiiigldfi'slofi'aal l Obvi'ously, any .nu'mber of openings may be provided in the flange a and inthe rotary valves. In this manner, at-

18 connected to the trunnion e througH'the"*iiiosphericairisadmitted to the flaring upper endof pipe g,-,and:i ts,a1nount is regulated by theva-lve'.

arranged abo-vethe drum a and,S11 X.Qunds.;-;

g.At;; thmbeginning of the operation, the drum (1- is charged with wet hides and cleaningi agent, such as sand,'sawdust or the like, and th'eheatingsystem is started. The drum (rand-the fan is are now rotated. The fan Is draws'='air and particles of cleaning agent from'thedrmn a through the trunnion f and stufiing box; t' ai'ld delivers the mixture to the separator 421 through pipe Z while at the sa ine-timetlrefairdrawsin fresh air through the pi'pe-cM hich isheated at g and flows threuglrtheidruin baromtrunnion e to trunnionf. Y

Theair whichis' delivered to the separator m'througlvthe pipe Z, contains not only suspended particles or' cleaning agent, but also vapor fIQm tii0i l1ld6S which are heated in the" manner described while rotating with the=drurn a." At the opening ofthe pipe Z into'the separator m, thc air is abruptly deflected in vertical. direction and leaves the separator at *v' entraining the vapor, while the heavier particles" of cleaning agent are collected in the tapering lowerportion of the separator 'm'an'd delivered to the pipe 9 and=the:s;uction pipe-c through the comparatively narrow out-let o. These particles which have' been dried in the heated separafor, are returned to the drum (1 with the fresh ai'r' in the suction pipec so that each particle, when arriving at-the drum a, is in good condition-for performing its operation on the hides, and not soaked with moisture.

If desired, fresh atmospheric air is admitted-to the particles'at the flaring upper end of the pipe g by suitably adjusting the valve 2-. In this manner. not only the particles which leave=the separator through the outlet 0, are acceleratedb'y the injcct n' action of the fresh air, but it is also possible to regulate the temperature of the heated air which flows in the suction pipe by the admixture of cold atmos'phcricfair.

It will be understood that in this manner a continuous circulation of the cleaning agent through the apparatus is effected while the moist air is c ntin11o11sly discharged at o and i'eplaced by" the fresh air which enters at the inlet end of the suction pipe 0 and is he'atc'd and dried'by the heater 9. Moisture which has beenhbsorbd by or adheres to, the particlespf the cleaning agent, is exin the sep'ara'tor,as described. 5 -"VVhileimthe apparatus describedin m said copending application, the cleaning agent is" retained by the perforated plates referred'to', it is 'free to move with the flowin'g air in the apparatus according to the present inventiom'and the flow of 'air'and suspended particles is not interfered with anywhere. This'has the advantage that a much greater quantity of-air perunit of time may be moved through the apparatusby a fank ofcorresponding si'ze 'a'ndcapacity. 'The hides are never Without cleaning agent as the cleaning agent is -permanently returned to the drum a by the means described, While on the other hand the efiiciency of the cleaning agent' is increasedby the 'drying' of its particles before they arereturnedto the drum'ar: In an ap paratus accordingfto the present. invention, the drying period of th'e 'hides :can be better adapted'to the cleaning period than in the apparatus described in my said copending application, and the processes of drying and cleaning'a're performed in-much shorter time. I wish itto be understood that I do not 'desire to be limited to the exact details -oi,con struction shown and described .for obvious modifications will in th'e'art. '1 i i 'In the claims afiixed' to this specification no-selection of any particular modification of the invention .is intended-to the-exclusion-of other modifications thereof and the rightto subsequently make claim to any modification not covered by these claims is expressly reserved.

I claim 1. An apparatus for drying and cleaning hides through the medium of a gas current and solid particles suspended therein, comprising a rotary member for the reception of the hides, means for effecting a flow of gas through said rotary member, pneumatic means for separating the solid particles from the gas escaping from said rotary member, means for discharging the mechanically purified gas from the apparatus, and means for delivering the separated solid particles to the about to enter said rotary member.

2. An apparatus for drying and cleaning hides through the medium of a gas current and solid particles suspended therein, comprising a rotary member for the reception of tae hides, means for effecting a flow of gas through said rotary member, pneumatic means for separating the solid particles from the gas escaping from said rotary men'iber, means for discharging the mechanically purified gas from the apparatus, means for delivering the separated solid particles to the gas about to enter said rotary member, and means for drying the solid particles before delivering them to the gas about to enter said rotar 1 member.

pelleid by heating and/or dryiiigtlie particles occun'to a person skilled {An apparatuswfor drying and cleaning hides through the'medium of a gas current and sol-id particles suspended therein, comprising a rotary member for the reception of thevhides, means for eiiectinga flow of gas through :said rotary. member, pneumatic means for separating the solid particles from thegas escaping from said rotary member, means fordischarging the mechanically puritied gas from 'the apparatus, means for deliveringuthe separated solid particles to the gasabout to enter said rotary member, and means for heating said. separator. 4. An apparatus for drying and cleaning hides through themedium of a gas current andfisolid particles suspended therein, comprising a rotary: member for the reception ofthe hides, means for-effecting a flow of I gas throughsaid-rotary member, pneumatic means for separating the solid particlesfrom the; gas :S SCDJPiIIg ffOHI Jsaid' rotary member, means for-discharging the mechanically purifiedigas from theap-paratus,means;for delivering the separated-solid particles to the gas about .to enter said rotary a'n'ember, means forzheating saidnrotary member, and means connected-to said heating means for heating said separator.

.5.=An,apparatus for drying and cleaning hides through the medium of a'gas current, and solidparticles suspended therein, comprising a rotary member for the reception of the, hides, means for-effecting a flow vof gas through said ,rotary member, pneumatic means for separating the solid particles from the gas escaping from said rotary member, means for discharging the mechanically purified gas from the apparatus, means for dellVellHg the separated solid particles to the gas about to enter said rotary member, and means for admixing atmospheric air to the gas about to enter said rotary member.

6. An apparatus for drying and cleaning hides through the medium of a gas current and solid particles'suspended therein, comprising a rotary member for the reception of the hides, means for efiecting a flow of gas through said rotary member, pneumatic means for separating the solid particles from the gas escaping from said rotary member, means for discharging the mechanically purified gas from the apparatus, means for delivering the separated solid particles to the gas about to enter said rotary member, and means for admixing atmospheric air to the gas about to enter said rotary member together with the particles from said separator.

7. An apparatus for drying and cleaning hides through the medium of a gas current and solid particles suspended therein, comprising a rotary member for the reception of the hides, means for effecting a flow of gas through said rotary member, pneumatic means for separating the solid particles from the gas escaping from said rotary member,

means for dischargingthe mechanically, purified gas from the apparatus, means for de-l livering. thef se'parated solidparticles to the gas about to enter'lsaidirotary member, and adjustableiineansi for admixing atmospheric air to-the gasabout to enter saidrotaryimem- GI. v '"i'5:%l,2. 1 8.; An apparatusifor;drying andcleaning hides through the. medium zofa gas current lower end of said separator foridelivering the se )arated particles to said suction pipe.

\ 9. 1 n apparatus for drying and cleaning hides thronghi'the medium of agas current andsolid particles suspended therein, comprising a rotary member forthe reception of the hides, a fan connected to one end of said rotary member at-its suctionsideya suction pipe connected'to the opposite endof-said rotary member, a separator, a discharge pipe at the upperend of said separator, a h'eating jacket on said separator,=a deliv ery pipe connecting the delivery side of said an to said separator,- and an outlet'at thB-JOWGI QHd of said separator. for delivering the separated particles to said-suction ipe.

= 10. An apparatus for di'ying andcleaning hides throughthe medium of'a gas current and solid particles' suspended therein, com prising; a rotary member for. the 1 reception of the hides; acgfa'n connectedto one-end -of said-rotary member, atiits suction side, a suction pipeiconnected to the opposite-end of said rotary member, a separator, a discharge pipe at the upperiend of said separator, ;a heatersurrou'ndihg.said. suction pipe and s0 arranged as to heat said rotary memberfby radiation, agheatingjacketon said separator connected .to the, heater on the suction pipe, adelive'ry pipe connecting-the delivery-side of Isaid fan: to; sai'd'separator, and an outlet at the lowenendoi saidseparator for delivering the separated particlesto said suction PIP?" :21; .'2";'- ii. p '1 1-' 5 7 11. 'Anapparat'us forv drying and cleaning hides through the medium of a gas {current and 1 solid particles suspended therein, comprising a rotary member for. the reeeptionof the hides,- a fan connected to one end of said rotary member, at its suction side, a suction pipe connected to-the-;opposite end of said rotary me1nber,:a separator, a discharge pipe at the upper end: of said separator, a delivery pipe connec'ting'the; delivery side of said fanto said-separator, an outlet at the lower end'of said separator,- a pipe which, is connected to said suction pipe at oneend and with its other end surrounds said outlet with a clearance,:and adjustable means for admitting atmospheric air to the other end of said pipe; 1 H p PAUL H-ERTZSGH. 

